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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869650">Sunrays of Hope</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeGreenImmortality/pseuds/JadeGreenImmortality'>JadeGreenImmortality</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Hope, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, One-Shot, PTSD but it's okay it's getting better, Romance, Wholesome, alternative storyline, beach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:47:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>878</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeGreenImmortality/pseuds/JadeGreenImmortality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes watches you play at the beach and thinks about how you changed his life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sunrays of Hope</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alright fellas, this is also something I wrote some years ago, but I actually still love it!</p>
<p>It's a short one-shot that's nothing but fluff and wholesomeness. This was written after me watching "Captain Amerarica Winter Soldier" for the first time and I had a lot of feels about Bucky...but oh, don't we all. <br/>Now I've rewatched this MCU gem and here are the feels again!</p>
<p>I recommend listenting to a cover of "Sweater Weather" by Hugo Kurt Schneider while reading this, you may find it on YouTube. At least that's what I listened to while writing this.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A soft breeze caressed his face as his lost gaze wandered over the horizon. He could feel sand between his toes and the last rays of the setting sun burning on his skin. The sound of the waves clasping again his calves mixed into a soft symphony with your loud and happy laughter - a sound he had dreamed of a thousand times, in those nights when nightmares shook him awake and he couldn’t find rest again.<br/>Bucky hated going to the beach. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy a good tan, swimming and playing beach volleyball with Steve and the other Avengers. It was the looks he got for his metal arm. That terrible weapon stuck to his body as his own. He didn’t even know how many people he already tortured and killed with it, yet he couldn’t get rid of it. Tony had promised to search for a proper way to take it off and make him a new, better one, but the day had yet to come.<br/>So yes, if he hated something more than his own arm, it was the wide-open, innocent eyes of little children that approached with curiousness in contrast to the irritated and concerned look in the eyes of their parents.<br/>Nevertheless he was here, standing by the sea, just in the line between water and sand, letting the wind ruffle through his hair, letting the sun burn onto his skin and the water caress his legs. He had to admit it felt good – no, on this occasion, it felt better than good. All those relaxing attributes that a beach visit brought were nothing against the reason that had brought him here – you. <br/>Nothing was better than seeing your limitless bliss.<br/>You were running through the waves, water on the level of your upper thighs, sliding your hands through the wild waters that were trying to drag you into the sea. But you didn’t even seem to notice. Dressed in your favorite bathing suit, you jumped and dived, and every time your face came to the surface, you laughed heartily. He could see you shake off the salty water that ran into your mouth and eyes. Then he watched you drifting away with the waves a bit, before you decided it was enough, jumped up and started to run again.<br/>You were able to enjoy the moment, enjoy the game with the sea. As Bucky eyed you, he felt the urge to hold you in his arms tight, kiss you and soak all that happiness like a drowning man would gasp for air. He didn’t envy you for your ability to live the moment – it was more the opposite: he admired it. He loved it. He loved you. <br/>Steve had dragged him back into life and had always been his greatest support, but since Bucky knew you, he had found his very own guide through this new-gained life.</p>
<p>“Hey Bucky,” you laughed, sitting in the water and waving to him with one hand.</p>
<p>Drops of water, painted golden and pink by the light of the setting sun, flew away as you waved.</p>
<p>“Stop watching me like a statue and come into the water already!”</p>
<p>A warm feeling rose in his chest due to your concern. You always cared. You always tried to drag him into events, to let him see the world as you did. Of course, the other Avengers noticed his exceptional calm when you were around him, the way he tried to do what you told him, the secretly loving look in his eyes. He knew that they could see it, and hell was he thankful that they didn’t tell you. He needed time to accept his feeling, to accept that he could maybe, just maybe, live a relatively normal life again. And he didn’t want to scare you – his light – away again with those feelings.<br/>“Stop dreaming now, buddy.”</p>
<p>A warm, soaking-wet hand took his, and made him focus on the present again. You were standing right in front of him, holding his metal hand and giving him a confident, excited smile. <br/>“Let’s play ball, alright?”<br/>He tensed a bit, just like every time when you touched his artificial arm so carelessly and fearlessly. A painful image of you, bloody and lifeless, appeared in his mind every time you touched it. But you didn’t seem to care about the difference. Your fearlessness gave him the strength to overcome his fear to hurt you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My metal arm…” </p>
<p>He felt the rest of his words trail off as he saw sudden concern rise into your eyes.</p>
<p>“…will be okay within the water, I guess. It’s some super special metal after all.”</p>
<p>He reinforced his words with a thin smile.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘For nothing in the world I’ll let those eyes go cloudy with worry again.’</em>
</p>
<p>You started to shine, just like the sun that was hiding now behind the endless mass of water.</p>
<p>“Well, then why are we still standing around? Come on!”</p>
<p>With those words, you pulled Bucky into the water, and there was no force that could stop your enthusiasm now. <br/>A sincere, soft smile appeared on Bucky’s lips as he looked at your silhouette that was painted black against the dusk.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘One day, I’ll tell her that she’s beautiful.’</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yay, you made it to the end!</p>
<p>I've been thinking in making a mini series out of this, prequels and sequels, so if anybody is interested and might wanna give a prompt, hit me up!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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